Why you should invest in drones for real estate marketing

The world of real estate marketing is changing. New developments, new markets, and new technologies are being seen across the industry. The internet has already totally changed the game for realtors everywhere, with clients able to see new property from the comfort of their own homes. According to the Wall Street Journal, people looking for new property spend roughly 60% of their time on a realtor’s images.

Experts have already found 83% of clients prefer to work with agents using drones.

What many might not have realized is that the newest great leap in displaying real estate has already arrived. You may have seen them in local public parks or on YouTube, but remote-controlled drones are currently taking the realtor world by storm. Experts have already found 83% of clients prefer to work with agents using drones. Not to mention, major consulting firms believe drones could already have a value in applicable industries of up to $127 billion. Let’s examine the benefits of drone use in property marketing.

It’ll provide unique insights, movement, and dynamism to any marketing or property plans in your business. It could just be the new perspective you need!

The pros and cons of drones

Pros:

First of all, drones allow you to show your clients the full exterior of the house without any of the long processes of organizing a house visit, or photoshoots from more difficult angles requiring skilled photographers. The whole area can be shot in a few minutes.

They also give you the ability to capture unique shots of the plot of land you can’t get from any other medium. A close-up bird's eye view, a 360 panorama outside the house, a slow-zoom directly down the street - none of these was possible before the drone.

The drone’s ability to capture video also means you can be far more concise with your content. No need for an entire album of photos of the site - one exterior video will do it.

They can give up-close, focused details of certain parts of the house that a photographer would be unable to reach: windows and upper floors are now far easier to capture than before

Smaller drones can also be used to show the interior of a house (with an adequately skilled pilot of course), giving you the ability to capture wider angles and more dynamic shots of living space.

Photo by Christian Langenhan, Unsplash

Cons:

Obviously, you have to find someone skilled enough to use the drone, and if you’re wanting to buy one yourself they can often come in at pretty hefty prices.

Drones are usually relatively loud, so you’ll need the permission of neighbors and you’ll probably want clearance with anyone that has small children or animals in and around the area.

Drones are also slightly difficult in legal terms when you have clearance to fly them. It’s forbidden to fly within 150ft of a person, vehicle or property outside of your authority, over a congested area, near airfields, etc, etc. You need someone who knows what they’re doing.

The best drones for real estate

The DJI Mavic 2 is widely regarded as being the most cutting-edge, professional and adaptable drone on the market right now. Coming from drone giant DJI, it produces film in up to 10-bit HDR video on a 48-megapixel super-resolution camera, with a 4x lossless zoom, to really add a cinematic element to your shots.

With a flight time of around half an hour, you could easily do an entire shoot on one charge, making it perfect for corporate use. It has omnidirectional object avoidance, making itself less likely to damage, and an adaptable aperture allowing shoots in any light. That said, coming in at $1,500, this would be a serious investment to consider.

The Parrot Anafi is a high-quality, smaller-sized and lightweight drone for a much more affordable price of around $700 weighing only 320g. It still maintains flight times of 25 minutes and reaches similar speeds and agility to the Mavic 2 while also being more suitable for flight inside.

This drone still films in 4K HD quality and has a 21-megapixel 180-degree rotatable camera for any kind of angle around your property. It still has a lossless zoom of 2.8x, even on this budget. One downside, however, is its lack of automatic obstacle avoidance, which could lead to irritating crashes.

In a similar price range at around $750, the DJI Mavic Air offers the best of both of the above. As the predecessor to the Mavic 2, it features slightly older technology while still boasting a 21 minute flight time and 4K quality video from a movable camera. It’s also small and light-weight, meaning it can be used for any kind of property at any time.

You can fold up the drone for easy transportation to the location, and it still has some of the most powerful technology drone giant DJI has released to date. The only real sacrifice is the battery, which often holds less charge than the 21 minutes and usually requires you to buy another.

Drones can’t do it all on their own

Of course, this doesn’t mean the whole system can be replaced by drone technology. To really get high-quality focus on the decor of the property, you’re going to need a professional photographer.

Drones also rely on atmospheric conditions. Sure, on an overcast day the shadow of the drone is obscured, but the aerial perspective still relies a lot more on natural light.

And, you have to consider wind interference, unlike any other kind of photography. Not to mention, if you manage to crash the drone - which is very easy to do for a new pilot - that’s a hefty price for repairs.

Drones require expertise and, if you want to use one on your own, a lot of practice and clarification with neighbors and the company, etc. All in all, although they may provide a unique viewpoint and new energy to your real estate presentation, they’re difficult to set up independently.

Think Meero for all your aerial video and photography needs

We have a tried and tested international network of over 60,000 highly professional, experienced photographers and drone pilots. If you can’t afford the drone, practice time and clearance, we can organize an aerial shoot of the highest quality for you.

You just have to choose the time, date and place, and Meero takes care of all the rest:

1. Finds the cameraman or drone pilot in your local area wherever you are

2. Organizes the shoot

3. Takes the photos, videos and drone data

4. Edits the photos manually and using our one-of-a-kind AI algorithm

5. And delivers the content back to you within 24 hours using our secure platform.

Meero takes care of all the planning and coordination of your shot, and whether it’ll be on your website or social networks, the images will match your brand image and be fine-tuned to the format you need. All you have to do is explain what you need and we adapt to your ideas.